Japanese Chip Stocks Propel Nikkei to Record High

Japan's premier stock index achieved a historic milestone on Wednesday, climbing 1.25% to close at 65,811.78 points as of 01:47 GMT. During intraday trading, the Nikkei surged approximately 2.2%, reaching its record high of 66,428.81 points. The broader Topix index advanced more modestly, gaining 0.15% to settle at 3,944.19 points.

The rally was predominantly fueled by investor enthusiasm for semiconductor-related companies, which have captured market attention amid robust performance in the technology sector. According to Kazuaki Shimada, senior analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities, capital flows have concentrated heavily in chip stocks benefiting from favorable market conditions. "Investors' money is concentrated in stocks of chip-related companies that are witnessing a bullish boom. Investors have ignored value stocks because there is no incentive to buy them at a time when technology stocks are generating strong returns," Shimada explained.

Tokyo Electron and Advantest led gainers among major semiconductor firms, each posting increases exceeding 5%. In contrast, the session saw notable weakness in other technology-related holdings. SoftBank Group shares retreated 4.3%, while Socionext experienced a steeper decline of 5.8%, marking the index's largest losers for the trading day.